Cpaptalk FAQs

This is a list of cpaptalk FAQs. These are questions that are frequently asked on the cpaptalk forum, and so their answers are here, to save time answering the same questions repeatedly.

Does pressure cause centrals

This whole fear of pressure causing centrals is highly over rated. People can get central apneas even with as little as 5 cm fixed pressure....and a truck load of them at that. Yes, in SOME people higher pressures can trigger lots of centrals but most of the time it's ANY pressure for those people. Very few will actually have a fine line where above so and do pressure centrals are numerous and below it they aren't. Only 10 to 15 % of the people who use cpap will end up with a problem in the number of centrals they are seeing. Most people won't have a problem no matter what pressure they use or if they use exhale relief in some form.

A few centrals here and there during the night is entirely normal. Sleep onset centrals or sleep stage transitions are normal. Not to mention just the chance of a false positive with an awake breathing pause getting a flag by mistake.

So I got a new mask and it won't attach to my hose. I thought all masks fit all hoses. What's up?

The most common cause for a mask not fitting a hose is a part from the old mask has got stuck in the long hose and it's in the way stopping the mask from attaching.

On a rare occasion a part needed for attaching to the hose is either missing from the mask package or gets overlooked.

99% of the time though...there's something stuck in the long hose and it may require a lot of effort to remove it.

CPAP hoses all have soft rubber ends that the mask attaches to, if yours has some hard plastic in it, remove that and put it back on your old mask.

What type of SD Card should I get for my CPAP machine?

Any modern SD Card should work, get the cheapest available.

Do I need to Lock my SD Card?

In most cases No, unless you have a ResMed S9. Windows 10 and MacOS write Thumbnail data files to the SD Card, because of these files, the ResMed S9 will re-format the SD Card prior to using it.

With all other CPAP machines, there is no need to lock the SD Card.

How long before I feel better or notice improvements?

Unfortunately there's no certain answer to this question because there are so many variables involved and everyone is different.

Some lucky people do get to experience the overnight miracle but most people it is going to take however long it takes.

Water in hose

I get these weird gurgling or popping sounds from my hose. I have water in my hose or mask. Why?

This is a common occurrence caused by condensation happening in the hose or mask or both.

There are several options available for eliminating it that depend on a combination of factors...heated hose being used or a non heated hose, humidity setting, ambient room temperature.

For more information, see: http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t94035/Pugsys-Pointers-3Dealing-with-therapy-bumps-in-the-road.html#p868378

My machine or mask isn't listed in the profile equipment menu choices.

This is a common problem when people are using the ResMed AirSense 10 Autoset....it's down in the R's all by itself. It got stuck with ResMed being the first word instead of AirSense...so it's down in the R's

If you have an older machine that cpap.com no longer sells or has never sold it...just add it to the comments section manually. So if you can't find it on the list...just manually add the item to the comments section of the equipment profile.

See CPAP_models for more details.

I have horrible dry mouth. How can I fix it?

Dry mouth can be a side effect of medications or other health issues but when it pops up new when someone starts cpap therapy it's usually from mouth breathing.

These humidifiers were designed to help hydrate the nasal cavity which is much smaller than the oral cavity. The machine simply can't keep up with the drying for some people just because they get dry mouth really easily.

The best fix...eliminate the mouth breathing but it isn't always so easy to do because of any number of reasons.

A full face mask doesn't necessarily fix dry mouth even if maximum humidity is used. Sometimes adding more humidity can help if you can add more humidity and is worth trying. Sometimes maximum humidity doesn't help. Sometimes people have to add some sort of oral mouth hydrating agent. There are several various products designed with that in mind and people just have to keep trying something until they find a product that suits their needs.

Is a BiPAP™ the same as a bilevel machine?

BiPAP™ is a trademark name from Respironics for an entire model line of bilevel machines.

So the term "BiPAP™"technically only refers to a Respironics bilevel machine of some sort. Now some people in the medical profession have commonly used the term bipap as sort of a generic term for any brand of bilevel machine...but it's not technically correct to do that.

There are several brands that make bilevel machines....the only brand that uses the term "BiPAP™" is Respironics because they own the trademark name. The rest of the brands either use a different trademark name or simply call it a bilevel machine.

ResMed happens to use the term AirCurve 10 for their latest line of bilevel machines.

Within the bilevel line of machines...there are several models that do different things so don't assume that all bilevels are the same and are for the same problem.

Why is the minimum pressure important on an APAP?

The minimum pressure is what the machine mindlessly tries to attain all night long. It operates on the assumption that the minimum was set thoughtfully, by someone that has looked at data that gives a good indication what pressure a person needs for most of the night.

Breathing events cause an exception, which temporarily raises pressure, but as soon as those clear up.... Back to minimum we go. If the minimum is too low... More events, more fractured sleep, more oxygen desats, more problems.

Minimum pressure is what it's all about. You want to have the minimum pressure set high enough to prevent the majority of events outright, and then let the machine handle exceptions, such as rolling onto your back, or REM cycles, (both of which typically require more pressure than side/front positions, or NREM.